


64 "It's two sugars, right?"

by allousive



Series: One Hundred Ways To Say 'I Love You' [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 09:31:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20758178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allousive/pseuds/allousive
Summary: It's been 25 years since they saw each other last.





	64 "It's two sugars, right?"

**Author's Note:**

> hii, i haven't posted anything in a while, been super busy. i saw cursed child on the weekend and despite the bizarre storyline the acting was so good and i spent the first half just crying bc i love harry potter so much. also, i've never seen anything as real as Scorbus in my life. so yeah after watching cursed child i thought i'd follow the idea of jumping in time and write something very much in the future. 
> 
> hope you enjoy x

* * *

64 "It's two sugars, right?"

James couldn’t quite believe his eyes. It had been years since he’d seen that face, yet it was still recognisable as if it had only been yesterday. After all this time, the middle of Diagon Alley was the last place James had expected to run into him. For about ten seconds he debated whether or not he should go over and talk to him, they’d been so close once and James wondered whether it would be a reunion of friends or strangers. It didn’t take him long to make up his mind though, he knew if he’d didn’t go over then he’d regret it, not to mention the grilling he’d get from his dad about it. He sucked in a deep breath, smoothed down his robe and approached the man.

Despite the fact it had been nearly 25 years since they’d last seen each other, Teddy had hardly changed. The biggest difference being his hair was no longer the vibrant turquoise it had been in his youth, but a settled caramel brown much like his father’s had been. Years ago, James had always seen him as so much taller, but now they were practically the same height, eyes level with one another. His eyes were just as James remembered them, a moss green that was kind, inviting, and had a slight glint of mirth.

James was unsure of how to introduce himself, so he just went with tapping the man on the shoulder and waiting for him to turn around, before nervously greeting him with a “Hello.”

For a split second, Teddy looked confused, eyebrows slightly furrowed as he tried to place a face to a name. But then recognition dawned on him and a smile broke out on his face, followed by a light chuckle.

“Well Merlin’s beard, look who it is!” Teddy said, stepping back slightly and appearing to look James up and down.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d recognise me.” James admitted, smiling at the other man.

“For a second I didn’t, you look more like your dad than I ever thought you would. Couldn’t decide if it was you or Albus.” He was still staring intently at James, as if he was committing every part of his face to memory.

“We all look like him, mum hates it.” James told him.

It felt strange to talk about people he was so close with, with someone who hadn’t been in their lives for years.

“What are you doing here?” Asked James before Teddy could say anything else, he meant here as in Diagon Alley, but also here as in England, a country James thought Teddy hadn’t been back to ever since he’d moved to Spain 25 years ago.

“Not much, browsing. Looking at what quidditch stuff is on offer over here.” Teddy replied, gesturing to the shop behind him that he’d previously been looking into the window of.

James wasn’t sure what came over him, but before he could stop his mouth from moving he was asking, “Well, if you’re not doing anything, my place isn’t far from here. We can go have a drink, catch up?”

It was probably nerves that made him ask, nerves about being reunited with someone after so long and nerves that said person was going to leave again anytime soon.

Teddy smiled, seemingly amused by James’ nervousness, “Yeah, sounds good to me.”

James nodded then offered his arm for Teddy to take, before apparating them both out of the street and onto the doorstep of James’ flat. James unlocked the door and led Teddy into the hallway, taking off his robes and watching as Teddy did the same.

“Tea? Coffee? Something stronger?” James asked, leading Teddy down the hall and into the kitchen.

“I’ll have a tea please, maybe we’ll save something stronger for later.” Teddy replied and James wasn’t sure if he was imagining the flirty tone in Teddy’s voice.

“_It’s two sugars, right?_” James asked.

Despite the fact that he hadn’t made Teddy a tea in 25 years, it felt like no time had passed as James reached up for a medium sized mug, the size Teddy had always preferred.

“Some things don’t change.” Teddy laughed, settling himself in a chair at James’ dining table.

It wasn’t very big, only made to seat four and seeing Teddy sat, spread out and looking entirely at home made James feel strange. He really couldn’t believe what was happening. He made the drinks as quickly as he could, not bothering to engage in anymore conversation as he did so, just let Teddy look around the room and be nosey like James knew he would be. There was some post on the table that James knew Teddy had looked at, he would’ve known even if he hadn’t heard the rustle of the paper.

Before taking a seat opposite him, James placed his mug down and slid it across the table to Teddy, accompanying the gesture with a smile. Teddy thanked him and picked the mug up, blowing on it, before taking a sip even though it was still boiling hot. James laughed internally, surprised at the fact that something Teddy had gone when he was 23 was something he still did at 48.

“This is strange.” James said, looking across at Teddy.

“Yeah, I suppose it is a bit. You used to hate coffee.” Teddy commented, nodding down at the drink James had made himself then making direct eye contact with him.

“I used to hate a lot of things.”

“I suppose you probably did.”

“Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” When James had first seen Teddy, he told himself he wouldn’t bring up anything to do with Teddy leaving or how they hadn’t had any contact in all that time, but he couldn’t help himself.

Teddy just shrugged, unsure of what to reply to that.

“How have you been?” He asked instead, trying to change the subject.

“That’s a complicated question. I’ve been good, life hasn’t been too harsh to me.” James replied, punctuating his sentence with a sip of the coffee he had made himself.

“Good,” Teddy looked down into his mug, “are you married?”

“I was.” James answered bluntly.

“Oh.”

“We divorced about six months ago, but we’ve been separated for over a year.”

“How come?” Teddy asked, before adding, “if you don’t mind me asking.”

“We wanted different things. I wanted monogamy and love, he wanted someone else in our bed every night.” James shrugged, he didn’t find it so hard to talk about now, as much as the relationship had ended on bad terms, he’d had time to process everything.

“Shit. How long were you together?”

“12 years, married 8.”

“What an asshole. I don’t even know what to say.” Teddy responded, feeling bad about asking the question in the first place, although it was one of the many he had wanted to ask.

James shrugged, there wasn’t really anything Teddy could say, what was done was done.

“I came out when I was 19,” James said, knowing Teddy would ask, he’d purposefully dropped the pronoun ‘he’ beforehand, “about a year and half after you left.”

“I know,” Teddy responded, sighing slightly, “your dad told me. We used to write to each other back then.”

A sense of sadness settled over the kitchen, the sting of lost time and unexplained actions sitting heavy upon the two of them.

“What about you? Are you married?” James asked Teddy, trying to lift the mood of the conversation.

“No. Never have been.”

Teddy’s answer surprised James, he’d always assumed Teddy would be the sort of person to get married and live happily ever after, he’d always had so much love and affection to give that the thought of him being alone was unfathomable, “How come?”

“Never found the right person I guess. I nearly did, when I was 26, but that was more because I felt I had to rather than because I wanted to. We never did though.”

“What do you mean?” James asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

Teddy smiled in a way that was a mixture of sad and happy, the wrinkles by his eyes scrunching up.

“I got a girl pregnant. I’d just broken up with a boyfriend of about a year and was devastated, she was a good friend and she was there and we slept together. Then she found out she was pregnant, and wanted to keep it, so I proposed, because I thought that was the right thing to do. Luckily, she said no.” Teddy ended his confession with a laugh, staring down at the table to avoid James’ gaze.

James was glad Teddy wasn’t looking at him because he knew he couldn’t keep the surprised expression off his face.

“You have kids?” He asked, trying to keep the tone of his voice level.

“Two,” Teddy finally looked up and chuckled at James’ expression that had gone from somewhat surprised to totally shocked, “twins. A boy and girl. Henry and Eden, they’re 22.”

He took his wallet out of his pocket and opened it, pulling out a photo of two people that must’ve been around 17 when it was taken. They were unmistakably relatives of Teddy’s, both had kind eyes and wide grins to match their father.

“Wow.” James said, because he didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, I wrote to Harry and the Weasley’s and told them all, sent pictures even, your mum and dad still send them birthday cards I think.” Teddy told him, the expression on his face was slightly confused, as if he didn’t understand why James didn’t know.

“Pretty much everyone stopped talking to me about you not long after you left, and I never asked.” James admitted quietly, fixing his gaze on a spot on the wall behind Teddy’s head so he didn’t have to look at him.

It was quiet for a moment, the effect of James’ recent confession hanging heavy like a cloud.

“It’s okay.” Teddy said after a while. He couldn’t be angry at James, he had no right to be, not after all this time anyway.

The kitchen lapsed into silence for a while, just the sounds of them sipping on their drinks. Neither of the two wanted it to remain that way but it was difficult to start a light conversation with everything that hung between them.

“You know I was completely in love with you.” James said with a laugh, although the laugh was one that came more from a place of sadness than anything else.

James had promised himself he wouldn’t go there, but he didn’t know if he’d ever again get the opportunity to talk to Teddy about it all.

Teddy sighed, “I know you were,” he paused, then continued after a short while, “I was probably in love with you too. I think that’s part of why I left.”

“I was so angry. Honestly, I think I was angrier at you for leaving than I was at my husband for cheating.”

“I remember. Didn’t you say something along the lines of how I ruined everything and you didn’t want to speak to me?” Teddy smiled when he said it, but at the time those words had hurt him more than he could describe.

James shrugged, “Well, I didn’t speak to you, not for 25 years, so you can’t say I lied.”

Teddy nodded, it wasn’t surprising to him, he’d been so angry at himself. The entire relationship him and James had had, whether romantic or platonic, was unlike any relationship Teddy had ever experienced. If he believed in soulmates he would honestly have said that James was his.

“Are you still angry?” He asked, slightly scared of what the answer would be.

James huffed out a laugh, “No. Not anymore. A part of me sort of gets it now. Life is so complicated.”

Teddy nodded his agreement before draining the last of his drink and placing his mug down, looking at James with a smile.

“How long are you here for?” James asked, lightening the mood.

“I’m not sure really,” Teddy said, before confessing, “I think I’m planning on moving back. My kids live here and I think I’ve exhausted everything the continent has to offer.”

“Oh.” Was James’ reply, unsure how to react.

Inside, he was jumping for joy but he tried to remain calm and composed on the outside so as not to get his hopes up.

“Maybe we’ll be seeing more of each other again.” Teddy suggested, he tried to keep the tone of his voice level so as not to give away too much.

His heart was hammering against his chest, secretly, one of the reasons he had decided to move back was to see if he could reconcile with James. Obviously, he wanted to see his family, but a main drive was James and the potential for even being friends with him again. If that was all he got then he would die a happy man.

“I’d like that,” James said, “a lot.”

They locked eyes across the table and smiled.

* * *


End file.
